Dear colleague, This is an inventory of experiences relevant to skill development that Psychology majors may encounter over the course of their education. Please take a few minutes to help us better understand this area. Please indicate the frequency per semester that students in your class are expected to perform each activity. The goal is to measure the skill experiences of the typical student, so activities performed by a small portion of the class are not included.

Course: __________________________

Written/Oral Communication

1. ______ Explain a scientific concept.
2. ______ Write an APA Style paper.
3. ______ Make an oral class presentation.
4. ______ Create a poster detailing the results of a scientific study.
5. ______ Submit a manuscript for publication in a newspaper, journal, official newsletter or literary magazine.

Information Gathering

1. ______ Search a library database (such as LUIS or Psychinfo).
2. ______ Look up material on the World Wide Web.
3. ______ Contact experts personally.
4. ______ Read an article published in a scientific or professional journal.
5. ______ Prepare an annotated bibliography.
6. ______ Critique flaws in a scientific or professional journal article.
7. ______ Design questions for a survey instrument.
8. ______ Administer a survey.
9. ______ Use archival sources to gather information (organizational records, etc.).
10. ______ Perform a content analysis of qualitative information.

Groups/Interpersonal

1. ______Work in a group for a class project.
2. ______ Participate in an extracurricular organization.
3. ______ Conduct a structured interview.
4. ______ Tutor other students.
5.______ Supervise children.
6.______ Work with special populations.
7.______ Work with a culturally diverse group of individuals outside of the classroom.

Critical thinking/Problem solving

1. ______ Identify problems with research reported in the media.
2. ______ Use a formal decision making technique (such as cost/benefit analysis or MAUT).

Research Methodology

1. ______ Identify experimental designs.
2. ______ Identify variables in a research study.
3. ______ Identify confounds/methods to control for confounds.
4. ______ Design a research project.
5. ______ Help conduct a research project.

Statistics

1. ______ Choose an appropriate statistical test for a study.
2. ______ Calculate a statistical test by hand or with a calculator.
3. ______ Interpret statistical results.
4. ______ Enter data into a statistical software package (such as SPSS).
5. ______ Analyze data using a statistical software package (such as SPSS).
6. ______ Create graphs using a statistical software package (such as SPSS).

Ethics/Values

1. ______ Discuss the rights and welfare of people participating in a scientific study.
2. ______ Discuss whether a research project was ethical or unethical.
3. ______ Discuss how research should be conducted in order to maximize the benefits to society.
4. ______ Design a research project in order to minimize the risk to participants and maximize benefits.

Technology/Computer

1. ______ Create a multimedia presentation using computer software (e.g., Power Point).
2. ______ Use HTML to design a web page.
3. ______ Use a computer programming language (other than HTML).

Can you think of any other skill related activities students encounter in your classes that we should be aware of?

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